Belen is a somewhat small city located in the state of New Mexico. With a population of 7,474 people and six associated neighborhoods, Belen is the 31st largest community in New Mexico.Belen is neither predominantly blue-collar nor white-collar, instead having a mixed workforce of both blue-collar and white-collar jobs. Overall, Belen is a city of professionals, sales and office workers, and service providers. There are especially a lot of people living in Belen who work in teaching (12.55%), office and administrative support (10.80%), and sales jobs (7.43%). Belen is home to a number of people employed in the armed forces. When you visit or walk around Belen, some of the people you will bump into will be military people In and out of uniform, jogging, shopping and generally out and about town. Telecommuters are a relatively large percentage of the workforce: 8.52% of people work from home. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce it is high relative to the nation. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes. It is a fairly quiet city because there are relatively few of those groups of people who have a tendency to be noisy. (Children, for example, often can't help themselves from being noisy, and being parents ourselves, we know!) Belen has relatively few families with children living at home, and is quieter because of it. Renters and college students, for their own reasons, can also be noisy. Belen has few renters and college students. But the biggest reason it is quieter in Belen than in most places in America, is that there are just simply fewer people living here. If you think trees make good neighbors, Belen may be for you.In terms of college education, the citizens of Belen rank slightly lower than the national average. 14.28% of adults 25 and older in Belen have a bachelor's degree or advanced degree, while 21.84% of adults have a 4-year degree or higher in the average American community. The per capita income in Belen in 2022 was $22,219, which is lower middle income relative to New Mexico, and low income relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $88,876 for a family of four. However, Belen contains both very wealthy and poor people as well. Belen is an extremely ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Belen home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. People of Hispanic or Latino origin are the most prevalent group in Belen, accounting for 70.45% of the city’s residents (people of Hispanic or Latino origin can be of any race). The greatest number of Belen residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Important ancestries of people in Belen include English, German, Irish, Italian, and European. The most common language spoken in Belen is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Native American languages.
